112 Days

Courtesy of Nasa's Terra Satelite

112 Days...

How long is 112 days? It is four months, or more exactly it equals 2,688 hours. Yet neither of these statistics allow a person to grasp actual magnitude of this stint in time. For example Gerald Ford was only president for 895 days, and James Garfield for only 199 days. The Gulf Oil Spill has lasted longer than some presidents (well one actually) and thankfully its flow has been stopped and its permanent closure is in sight, but with 4.9 million barrels of crude oil in the Gulf of Mexico its long term effects are just beginning.
 

We Deserve to Know...

No More Obama Magic?

With negative ratings and heavy criticism pouring from all sides of the aisle, it seems that President Obama's once safe zone, his rhetorical skills, have abandoned him when he is most vulnerable. The speech itself, under any other circumstances would have most likely have been regarded as adequate however, the nation elected a president who could deliver hair raising and stirring speeches on command. His latest speech, his first address to the nation from the Oval Office, dealt with the Gulf Oil Spill and with a sensational topic, a sensational speech was anticipated. He did not deliver. In his speech I took issue with three different points he made so lets delve deeper into each issue.

'Cap and Kill' Captures 6,000 Barrels of Oil in 24 Hours

Finally Some Results

Forty-six days and an estimated 36,708,000 barrels of oil later, BP has partially succeeded in one of its efforts to take back control over this ever worsening problem. The plan, now known as the 'cap and kill' plan has so far been partially successful, resulting in about 6,000 barrels of oil being siphoned from the sea, into the drill ship Discover Enterprise. However, video clips released today, Saturday June 5th, still show oil leaking out into the Gulf, and primary results suggest only about twenty percent of the estimated daily amount of oil released into the Gulf of Mexico. BP has said before that this method will only slow the spew of oil and that the well will not be completely closed until the relief wells are dug in August.

Obama's Katrina

The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

What may possibly be the worst oil spill in United States history began on April 20th, 2010 when a ball of methane gas escaped from an exploratory well and exploded inside the oil column causing a tempest of fire. The explosion has been described as a sudden explosion that gave them left than 5 minutes to evacuate. Rescuers on the scene described the burning as being so hot that it was melting the paint of the rescue boats. On April 22nd, the coast guard received confirmation that the rig had sunk, but that same day an even worse nightmare was realized, and oil slick was found spewing from the collapsed rig. What would occur in the next 40 days was nightmarish and tragic to the extreme, bring back memories of Exxon-Valdez, only hovering in the background is always the possibility that this time could be worse.